There For You
by Fantasy's-Priestess
Summary: When Scully breaks her wrist, Mulder becomes ridiculously over-protective and helpful. Why? MSR if you squint and tilt your head to the side  Quote: "So basically my immobile furniture convinced you to move them into here?" "Yep."


**Yay 2****nd**** story! :D :D :D This one is more fluffy then my other piece, but I love this one :) Review if you like/love it too**

**P.S. This was inspired by true events (that happened to me) and by Gilmore Girls.**

"Mulder, seriously, I'm fine!" Scully cried for what she felt like the umpteenth time that day, "It's just a fractured wrist. It'll be healed within no time. I'm—"

"Scully, do not say another word." Mulder warned, as he led his uncooperative partner into her apartment after unlocking the door. "I refuse to take no for an answer here. The doctor specifically told us you're probably going to have a hard time adjusting to your fractured wrist, especially since it's your dominant wrist that's broken." Mulder persisted.

"Yeah, well he _suggested_ I get help, he did not order for it. Plus, I'm a doctor too and I already know everything I need to know. Mulder, I'm quite fine on my own here."

"No, you're not. Now save your breath because I'm not leaving." Mulder said arrogantly.

"Oh yes you are. Even if I have to drag you back out myself." Scully seethed, throwing the bag she had brought along for their trip to Nevada onto her couch in. She then turned to Mulder and crossed her arms, hoping she looked strong...but she knew before she ever turned that there was no way in hell she was forcing him out the door physically. Even if she didn't have a broken wrist, she knew that her petite 5'2" frame couldn't possibly kick him out. And by his smug smile, he knew it too.

Scully cried out in frustration and stormed away, reminding Mulder of a scarlet hurricane ready to destroy everything in her path.

How did everything come to this? Well, it all began on Monday morning when Mulder came in with his over-exuberant smile, a folder and plane tickets to Nevada. He then proceeded to tell her about a case of a missing child who the parents say swore they saw was stolen by a tiny dwarf. Scully's first thought was that these parents had read _Rumplestilskin _to their child one too many times. And of course maybe it was just a really short person who kidnapped the child.

Mulder of course didn't think so.

Instead he told a tall-tale story of how in the small town of Storyland, Nevada, the fairytales that parents told their children about came to life. And since poor Scully couldn't talk any sense into the man, within the hour, they were on a plane to Storyland, Nevada.

Their trip didn't last very long though.

After spending 3 days in a crappy hotel room with no leads, the two decided that it was nothing but a wild goose chase….until of course in the middle of the night when Mulder swore he saw a dwarf.

The chase began. And into the dark forest they went.

Scully followed them both like a good special agent but she soon ended up regretting it. Because the forest floor was the roughest terrain she had ever run on, especially in the heels she was wearing. She would've taken them off like any other chase and been quickly on their tails, but she was afraid she'd cut her feet on the rocks. So she kept them on, but not without consequences.

For only a few minutes after the chase began, Scully slipped on a large rock. Instinctively, she threw out her hand to catch her fall. This ended with her bruising her ass terribly and getting a broken wrist.

When Mulder returned later on with the dwarf and the missing girl in hand, he found Scully waiting in the hotel room, clutching her wrist and glaring angrily at him. Afraid of her anger, he quickly brought the dwarf and the girl to the local police and then brought Scully to the hospital from which they quickly left. And they didn't return to the "hospital" until 3 hours later because the "hospital" didn't open until 6 a.m. (What did you expect from a small-town "hospital"?).

6 hours later they were on a plane back to Washington, with Mulder writing down their report and Scully going 'I told you so' every half-an-hour (her theory was the one that panned out; the couple's daughter had just gotten lost in the forest and the "dwarf" was just a man who was on vacation with his wife).

Those events had leaded them to this; Scully staring angrily and hopelessly at Mulder, who was staring back at her with a grin.

"You know what...I'm going to go for a shower. And when I come out, you better be gone. Do whatever want while I'm in the shower, but be gone in 30 minutes." Scully said warningly, staring him down with a pointed glare.

"30 minutes?" Mulder inquired.

"Yeah. I didn't trust the hotel room shower and don't even get me started on the plane ride back here." Scully ranted before turning around and stomping over to her bedroom.

"Will you need any help in there?" Mulder asked suggestively.

All he got in response was a throw pillow to the face.

~~~**::**~~~

When Scully came out 31 minutes later, she entered her living room to total silence. Scully took this as a good sign, since when Mulder usually came over he's usually drinking her beer and hogging her T.V. by now.

_Looks like he finally saw sense. _She thought with a proud smile as she turned towards the kitchen. To celebrate her win she was going to drink _her _beer and—

"Why do you look so smug?"

She gasped in shock and had to quickly catch herself on the wall to keep from falling on her ass.

"Mulder!" she cried angrily after she finally composed herself. She pivoted, only to see the smug bastard grinning at her and…_eating her favourite chips! _

"Mulder! _Get out!_" she cried exasperatedly, holding her hand up to her forehead with her unbroken wrist.

"No."

"Why? Why are you so insistent?" Scully whined, plopping into the chair next to Mulder.

"Aww, Scully, you can't be that annoyed at me already?" Mulder asked as he put an arm around her shoulders.

Scully duly noted that by Mulder doing this, he effectively deflected the question she had asked. Now, she was an 'I'm-pressuring-you-until-you-cave' type of gal, but she knew when _he_, Mulder, the man that was willing to open up to her at a moment's notice, not-quite-lies but deflects the question, she knew she'd have a bigger success rate if she asked later on.

"No I'm not annoyed…Actually, yes, yes I am. You're annoying me."

"Okay…if you really want me to go…" Mulder whispered sadly with a dejected puppy look in his eyes. She knew he was doing this on purpose. To try and make her cave. But she wouldn't. Not to Mulder. Not to the man that's been ignoring her wishes and stealing her food.

_No, I will not cave, _she thought determinedly as Mulder slowly walked towards the door, _I will not cave…_

Mulder reached the door…

_I will _not_ cave…_

Mulder was turning the door knob…

_I CANNOT cave…_

Mulder was giving her his puppy look again…

_Nope, I'm strong…I can _do _this…_

Mulder sighed dejectedly, realizing his act wasn't working. He was opening the door…

_Do not give in. Do _not _give in. Do NOT GIVE IN…_

He was halfway out the door…

"Goddammit Mulder, get your puppy butt back in here." Scully cried in a frustrated voice with her head in her hands. Because of this, she didn't see Mulder skip gleefully back into the room and shut the door. She didn't see him skip over to her and take back his place in the chair beside her.

But she did feel his large hand place itself on her neck and slowly began to massage.

"See Scully, you can't get rid of me for long." He joked as he slowly rubbed.

_You have no idea…_

~~~**::**~~~

"There you go Scully. You have all you need; a bottle of iced tea, a glass of water, Aspirin, a notepad just in case you wanna try to write the next biggest novel with your left hand, a bag of your favourite chips, the T.V. remote, your favourite books _Jane Eyre _and _Moby Dick_, the book your reading right now; _To Kill a Mockingbird_ (what's with all these classics?), your laptop and a little bell which you can ring if you need anything else from your slave tonight, which is _moi_." Mulder said proudly as he helped Scully situate herself in her bed.

Scully sighed as she fought off a smile. Mulder was going so over the top to make sure she was comfortable. _And to think all I asked for was a glass of water before bedtime…_

"Mulder, this is silly. I just want to go to bed…I don't need all of this." She admonished as she indicated towards her cluttered bedside table.

"Nonsense…Remember when I said I'd take care of you? I meant it…Besides, the last thing I want is me falling asleep on you and then you needing something but being too proud to ask for help."

Scully raised her eyebrow inquisitively. "Mulder, it's just a fractured wrist. It's not like I'm dy—I mean, it's not like I broke a leg or something." Scully stuttered when Mulder tensed.

Mulder sighed, "We'll just leave it with my Scully deserves the best."

Scully couldn't help the heat that rushed to her cheeks at the name Mulder just called her. '_My Scully'? When did I become 'my Scully'? Well…I guess it doesn't matter, since I kind of like the ring to it…_she mused before blushing even redder. How could she think that?

"My Miss Scully, are you blushing?"

"No." Scully said defensively, though it was plainly obvious that she was to both him and her.

"Okay…" Mulder's tone contradicted his answer by a long shot.

~~~**::**~~~

"So you're comfortable right?" Mulder asked for the fifth time. 5 minutes ago Scully told Mulder she was going to bed, so for the past 5 minutes he's been tucking her in and checking that she was comfortable.

"For the last time _I'm fine_. I'm tired. I want to sleep. Night-y night." Scully cried in frustration before twisting so she was on her belly and facing away from him.

"Goodnight Scully." Mulder whispered hideously loud. Scully rolled her eyes before shutting them completely. Within minutes, she was in the place between dreamland and reality, and with one more step she would be sleeping deeply without a care in the world…

That was until she heard a scraping noise. Scully's eyes popped open in shock and she had to bite her lip to keep from groaning. She was _so close _to escaping from this horrible day…

The scraping noise stopped as quickly as it came, but it was too late. Scully was already awake now and since she was startled so abruptly, she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep for awhile. She sighed and twisted reluctantly until she was facing the ceiling. And she was just about to yawn when she realized…

_What the hell made that scraping sound?_

She quickly sat up and looked towards the end of her bed and was startled even more by the sight she received. She saw Mulder bent over the comfiest chair she had with a grimace on his face. Because of this sight, she was literally afraid to ask…but she had to.

"Mulder, what are you doing?" she asked, rubbing her right eye gently (her good wrist was holding her up, so her bad wrist would have to do for wiping).

"I'm…grabbing a chair." Mulder said, trying to sound innocent. But she knew Mulder…he wouldn't grab a chair for no reason.

"Why?"

"Because the chair was lonely out in the living room."

"And how about the blanket?"

"Don't want the chair to get cold."

"And how about the pillow?"

"The chair needs a friend."

"Oh really?" Scully asked with a raised eyebrow.

Mulder nodded with a smile, "Yep."

"So how about you? Aren't you supposed to go and prepare the guest bed? After all, my other furniture needs your company."

"Well, you see, the chair, the blanket and the pillow can't survive without me but I told them you needed me but they insisted—"

"So basically my immobile furniture convinced you to move them into here?"

"Yep," Mulder grinned. Scully opened her mouth to tell him how absurd he was being before he held up a finger in a motion to silence her. Scully raised her eyebrow as Mulder leaned forward and put his ear to her favourite chair.

"What's that Mr. Chair? There's something missing? But I…Oh yeah!" Mulder cried happily before grabbing the pillow and blanket and plopping into the chair. Scully just rolled her eyes and lay back down.

"G'Night Scully."

"Goodnight crazy." Scully said before leaning over and shutting off the light beside her (Mulder was supposed to do it before he left her room, but she guessed he had other plans and forgot about it). From there the two closed their eyes and tried to let sleep overtake them…

~~~**::**~~~

…That was until Scully realized that because of that startle from before, there was no way in hell she was going to fall back to sleep anytime soon.

So she stared up at the ceiling for a good 20 minutes, just thinking. Thinking of earlier events and how she got here, to this moment. Thinking about that poor child who was lost in the woods for four days. Thinking about how much she would give to be able to skip Monday and not have to go to work and do tons of paperwork. Thinking about how much she wanted to sleep. Thinking about Mulder's evasion of her question earlier.

"Why are you still awake Scully?"

Scully gasped at the sudden voice and she lifted her head, only to see Mulder wide-awake and staring at her window in thought. He looked so serious and he looked how she felt; restless yet so very tired.

"Seriously, you should be asleep."

"Mulder, how—"Scully began, but Mulder already had it covered for her.

"You're breathing patterns. Usually when someone's asleep they breathe deeply and soothingly, and if you're lucky you get a snore out of them." Mulder answered with a slight smile.

"And I was breathing…"

"Like someone who's awake. And to answer your unasked question {which is why I'm even paying attention to your breathing} is that ever since I was a kid, peoples' breathing was like a lullaby to me. My mother always insisted her singing was horrible and I don't think my dad ever tucked me in. So my lullaby was the sound of my parents' breathing when I was a baby and then the sound of Samantha's breathing as I got a little older. Now, I can usually sleep without it but I always sleep better when someone else is in the room."

Scully stayed silent during Mulder's confession but a small smile remained on her face throughout it all, despite the fact he mentioned his dead family. She couldn't help but smile at the thought of a baby Mulder. He was probably so cute…

"So why are you awake?"

Scully sighed and shook her head. "Just thinking I guess. You?"

Another sigh answered hers, "Me too. What are _you _thinking about?"

For the third time, a sigh resounded through the room. But this time no words followed this sigh. Instead silence swelled until the only thing the two could hear was the sounds of cars in the streets, people in their apartments and their breathing. Thankfully for Scully, Mulder didn't push the matter.

"…Mulder?" Scully suddenly asked, sounding uncertain.

"Yeah?" he whispered, sounding surprised that she spoke.

"Why did you evade my question earlier?"

"…What question?" Mulder asked, obviously lying through his teeth. But Scully played along.

"I asked you why you were so insistent on staying tonight. And you never answered me."

He seemed to struggle for a second to find the right words (something that astounded Scully since he _never _ran out of things to say, not around her). "Well…to get you into bed of course." Mulder finally answered with a grin.

"Mulder…" Scully warned.

"Fine, fine…do you remember earlier today at the hotel when we stayed up from 3 in the morning until 6 to get your wrist fixed?"

"How can I forget?" Scully snorted, earning a chuckle from Mulder.

"Well, remember when you fell asleep for an hour? Well, while you were sleeping and as we waited for 6 to arrive, I began thinking…"

"This isn't good." Scully muttered, loud enough to reach Mulder's ears.

Mulder lightly smiled before continuing, "I began to think of all the times you ended up in the hospital—even for the tiniest reasons—because of our search for the truth. All the little times like when you went to the hospital because of the bruises and cuts you attained after being captured by Donnie Pfaster. And all the big times like your cancer and your abduction…I thought about every single time…and to be honest, throughout the entire thing I felt absolutely terrible."

"Mulder…" Scully whispered, wanting to sit up and hold his hand. But knew if she did there was a possibility he'd stop talking.

"Let me finish…then, when I realized it was still only 5 a.m., I began thinking of how many times _I _was in the hospital. And I realized as I looked back, no matter how sick or hurt I was, even if it was the tiniest thing, you were there. You were there holding my hand or distracting me with banter. You were _always _present. And that's when I realized…when I looked back on all the times you were in the hospital, the only times I was there for you was when you were on your deathbed or very close to it! And that's when I got my epiphany; _I'm a horrible best friend._"

Scully opened her mouth to retaliate and tell him how stupid he was being, but before she could utter a syllable Mulder whispered, "Don't speak Scully. Let me finish." Scully, being a polite person, nodded before closing her mouth, no matter how much she wanted to tell him off for how dense he was being.

"So anyways, as I sat there staring at your sleeping face—you look pretty good for a sleeping person by the way; you don't snore and you don't drool, all good things—I gave a vow. I vowed to myself to be there for you every time you ended up in the hospital because of the truth. Even if it's not because of the truth…I want to be there like you've been there for me." Mulder finally finished, sounding happy to get it all out. Scully was too, because now she could get her side in. She finally sat up now, drawing Mulder's eyes away from the window.

"B-But Mulder, that's ridiculous! I mean, like you said, I've been in the hospital more times then you have, so really I can't expect you to be there _all the time—_"

"Scully, don't bother. I've made up my mind…Unless you don't want me here." Mulder said uncertainly. He sounded so upset by the thought of her not wanting him there that Scully was quick to say, "Of course I want you here, I just—I'm just not used to you being here for me. I'm sorry I made you think you're unwelcome." Scully muttered guiltily, playing with the frill of her blanket. She could practically feel Mulder's smile from across the room. Scully couldn't help but look up and she instinctively smile back at Mulder, who was grinning ear to ear at her. That's when she finally got a good look at him. Mulder was uncomfortably shifting in the chair with a pillow behind his head and the blanket only covering his torso. His lanky legs were stretched out wide and his sock covered feet were wiggling unconsciously. Scully sighed and knew what she had to do.

"Mulder get over here." She said, grabbing the sheets on the other side of her bed and pulling them so he had a place to get in.

"What? But I don't wanna wrestle." Mulder grinned, yet somehow was able to look confused at the same time.

"Mulder, don't be a baby. I've fallen asleep in that chair before and believe me; it's not as comfortable as it looks. And besides, if you're insistent on staying in my room, we might as well sleep in the same bed. It's not as if we haven't done this before." Scully said clinically, as if she was reciting a text book. In reality though, her palms were sweating and her heart was beating like a hummingbird's wings. What she had said was the truth; they have done this before. But not unless they were in life or death situations, like when she was freezing to death in Antarctica or when he was going into shock after that whole memory situation. So this would be the first actually-wanting-to, healthy snooze fest.

No wonder she was nervous.

Mulder on the other hand, didn't look nervous one bit. Nope, he looked like an alien had shown up at his doorstep with a bow on his head. This frustrated Scully the tiniest bit, but she would never admit it.

With an excited smile on his face, Mulder said, "Okay!" before practically jumping out of the chair and almost skipping over to her bedside. Scully just rolled her eyes and scooted to make room for his lanky 6'0" frame. Mulder slipped under the covers gratefully and with that the two settled down so they were at least a foot apart with the blanket covering them both (though the blanket was close to barely fitting onto Mulder).

Here comes the awkward part.

They had no idea what to do now. Should they spoon or cuddle? Should they stay as far away from each other as possible? The two looked at each other and with an unspoken agreement they shuffled a little closer to each other but that's as close as they got. Instead, Scully whispered a sleepy goodnight and turned onto her belly, and Mulder whispered a goodnight back before preparing himself for another sleepless night (after all, his insomnia was getting worse nowadays and besides, he needed to take care of Scully).

But thankfully, Mulder didn't need to worry about it because within 15 minutes, the two were both sound asleep.

…**Review…Please? :)**


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